A speech made yesterday by the President of the Family Division has just been published by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.
Speech by President of the Family Division: Nicholas Wall Memorial Lecture 2019
Current President of the Family Division, Andrew McFarlane reflects on the life of Nicholas Wall, a former President, and Head of Family Justice for England and Wales who passed away in 2017.
McFarlane goes on to talk about contact, child protection, secure accommodation, the Children Act 1989, and adoption.
The speech also marks the 30th anniversary of the Children Act 1989.
Nicholas sat on a panel for a Researching Reform debate we hosted with Mishcon de Reya in 2009 in the House of Commons, which looked at protecting children during divorce. We remember him as a thoughtful judge, who questioned the significant harm threshold more than once and advocated for no fault divorce.
House of Commons Debate, 2009: Sir Nicholas Wall, Sandra Davies, Tim Loughton MP, Sir James Munby and Bob Reitemeier
Researching Reform 
Sir Nicholas Wall was a horrible old hypocrite who finished his legal career and also his life by breaking the law and topping himself ! Suicide is still against the law.
He was responsible for depriving the daughter of Vicky Hague at a very early age of the mother who loved her and whom she loved .
He did not pass himself the jail sentence of three years jail on Vicky for daring to talk to her own daughter at chance meeting at a service station when she and her father drove up to fill their car.with petrol.
The disgraceful decision to ban a mother (who had never hurt her child) from any contact by phone ,email,or post was such a cruel decision that any sympathy for Wall in is sad end of life would be misplaced;
Andrew McFarlane is just as bad.He has been known to openly favour giving couerts the power to impose care orders on children even BEFORE they have been born !
Will there be no end to this legalised child snatching? God save the foetus !
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I am one who feels that ‘if you can’t say anything good about someone deceased, then don’t say anything’ but I realise there are exceptions – like Hitler. And after a particularly unjust decision by Sir Wall, we nicknamed him ‘Brick’ for obvious reasons.
More importantly, I have been given to understand that Vicky’s ex-partner, who Brick exonerated and gave custody of the daughter to, has been banned from having any dealings with children – is this true? If I’ve heard it, then others will have, and if it’s not true then we should be told. If it is true, what does this say about Wall?
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He wasn’t perfect and we called him out often but as you say, he is now deceased do best to be kind.
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I agree with Ian.
its virtually impossible to show any sympathy or respect for a Judge who will have watched hundred of parents walk out of his court totally destroyed due to his life changing and extremely damaging decisions.
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Researching Reform was not a supporter of Wall, as our site will show, however he did hold some views that were positive.
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